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Idaho’s whitewater family adventure

The magic on the journey down the Salmon River comes from exhilarating rapids safe for the whole family and from the experience of being disconnected from “real life” and the electronics that distract us from the here and now. (photo from Lauren Kramer)

There’s nothing quite as thrilling as a whitewater rafting adventure, especially when you can do it with your kids. For safety reasons, most rafting companies restrict the participation of kids 12 and under for anything other than a bland float downstream. With one exception, that is: ROW Adventures’ five-day Family Magic rafting excursion on the lower fork of Idaho’s Salmon River. Here, the rapids are safe enough for a 5-year-old and just sufficiently exciting to get parents’ adrenaline pumping, without ever feeling dangerous. Add a “River Jester” to the mix, a staff member whose job it is to keep kids busy, happy and engaged, and you have the recipe for a perfect family vacation.

 “Now try to imagine 10,500 turkeys moving with each passing second and you get a sense of the strength of the current.”

The city of Lewiston is the point of departure for the trip and a place where five families from Ohio, British Columbia, New York and California make cautious introductions, as their kids, who range in age from 5 through 15, nervously check each other out. We learn that we’ll be rafting up to 16 miles a day, that lifejackets are mandatory and that the river is flowing at 10,500 cubic feet per second. “One cubic foot is about the size of a turkey,” explains our head guide, Mark. “Now try to imagine 10,500 turkeys moving with each passing second and you get a sense of the strength of the current.”

Clambering aboard seven rafts, we let the river carry us through arid gulches and canyons to a beach with silver-streaked, powder-soft sand. By the time we arrive, guides have assembled our tents and appetizers are being prepared in the camp kitchen. Audrey, an undergraduate student spending her summer as the River Jester, quickly gathers the children for games in and around the shallow eddy of our beach, while the adults wade in the cool water and get to know each other over glasses of wine. We’re in a river valley where Idaho’s schist mountains soar to 2,200 feet around us and, but for the sounds of the river, there’s utter peace. Disconnected from our iPhones, iPads, emails and texts, a gradual relaxation begins, one enhanced by nightly campfires and meals that consistently defy our distance from civilization: huckleberry-flavored salmon, prime rib, casseroles and spectacular desserts baked in a Dutch oven. “We bloat ’em, and then we float ’em,” jokes our guide, Jake, a physics PhD student.

The days start early at camp, with breakfast served at 7:30 a.m., but we’re on river time, grateful to watch the sun rise and happy to be packed up and on our boats by 9 a.m. as the mercury hits 90 degrees Fahrenheit. By midday the Salmon River provides an easy respite from the 100-degree heat. In the calm stretches of river, we gladly hop overboard, drifting effortlessly downstream in our lifejackets and clambering back in the boats at the first sign of riffles on the water. My son rides the helm of one boat, his face locked into a smile as the waves lift the boat, tossing it like a leaf in the current. My husband and I take a two-person “ducky,” navigating the thrashing waves with pounding hearts and swimsuits drenched by spray.

The days are bisected by fabulous lunches at remote beaches and stopovers at places of historical interest. At one site, we gaze at pictographs inscribed on the rock walls thousands of years ago by ancestors of the Nez Perce tribe, who once claimed this land as their own. At another, we inspect the ruins of stone houses constructed by Chinese miners in the late 1800s and, at a third, we are awed by the columnar basalt rock formations lined up along the river banks with soldier-like precision. More than half of our guides are teachers and each offers a unique perspective on the environment. Distributing Oreo cookies to the kids, one guide, Matt Phillipy, uses the chocolate layers to explain the movement of tectonic plates, which created the landscape we observe. As he speaks, a hush descends over the children in our group. Utterly absorbed, they are learning, stimulated and engaged. It occurs to us they’ve not used the phrase “I’m bored” even once since entering the river.

With their kids amply entertained, parents form easy friendships over plates of crackers and goat cheese.

An antidote to the amusement park vacation, there’s certainly magic on the Family Magic rafting tour. Without links to the digital world, families can truly play together. Kids of all ages bond over games of soccer and volleyball. Fathers and sons compete for the longest vault into the water on a waterslide created by an upturned boat. With their kids amply entertained, parents form easy friendships over plates of crackers and goat cheese. They talk about their kids, their jobs and their challenges. They play long, contemplative games of Scrabble and cards, share stories and abandon their tents for the beauty of sleeping directly under the starry Idaho skies.

By 10 p.m., everyone at camp is fast asleep, exhausted by the excitement of white water rapids that have challenged our paddling skills, splashed and soaked us, and left us exhilarated and eager to head out the next day. Among us are grandparents in their 70s, kids in kindergarten and everyone in between, united by the serenity and thrill of the Salmon River and its rapids.

On day four, we have hair streaked and matted by sun, sand and water, skin plastered with umpteen layers of sunscreen and body odor; none of it bothers us in the least. Within 24 hours, we will disperse, each family traveling to their respective homes, plugged in, distracted and wired once again. But, in this moment, we’re suspended on a pristine, isolated beach amid Idaho’s majestic canyons, surrounded by rugged mountains that soar into a cloudless sky. Strangers have become friends, once-meek paddlers have surged with confidence and a sense of magic hangs quite tangibly in the air.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond, B.C. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

 

Spanish Jewry’s Golden Age

An illuminated Chumash from the El Escorial Library collection in Madrid. (photo from Courtesy of El Escorial Library)

Everyone has heard: “All good things must come to an end.” This saying certainly holds true when talking about Spanish Jewry’s Golden Age. Back in the Middle Ages, Spain’s church and state used forced conversion, expulsion and the Inquisition to obliterate Jewish life on their peninsula. While we might have some sense of how these methods devastated the lives of this once great Jewish community, we are probably less aware of the toll it took on the products of this culture, namely its books.

Let’s first be clear about what the Spanish Inquisition was. In her article “Medieval and Early Modern Sephardi Women,” published in the volume Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, Prof. Renée Levin Melamed writes that the Inquisition was “a temporary legal institution or court set up by the Roman Catholic Church in order to extirpate suspected heresy. Its jurisdiction was solely over baptized Catholics; thus, it could bring to trial converted Jews or Muslims, suspected witches, sectarians and the like.”

What set the Spanish Inquisition in motion? According to Prof. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (author of Ferdinand and Isabella), in the late 1400s, the Spanish monarchs genuinely dreaded that the souls of their Catholic subjects would be forever lost to Islam and Judaism. Indeed, there was a pervasive fear that those who had already left Judaism (those former Jews known as conversos) had not really put aside their original religion. Hence, Spanish Christians strongly suspected conversos of Judaizing. To deal with this perceived threat to Christianity, the king and queen established the Inquisition.

Once the institution began functioning, religious considerations were perverted into accusations based upon economic rivalry, as well as the settling of assorted personal grudges. Moreover, as the offices of the Inquisition had the power to impound the possessions of the accused, it became advantageous to keep the institution going. Far worse than losing one’s possessions, however, was the sadistic physical torture the indicted commonly suffered, and the death by burning of those convicted. Fernandez-Armesto writes that contemporaries of Ferdinand and Isabella chose conveniently (and paradoxically) to forget – or ignore – the fact that “the Spanish royal house, too, was remotely affected by Jewish blood, through its founder, Henry of Trastámara, and his mother, Leonora de Guzmán, mistress of Alfonso XI.”

While Christian officials busied themselves in setting up the Inquisition, a few undaunted Spanish Jews moved ahead in printing sacred Hebrew texts. Significantly, these came to be highly regarded: “Their biblical texts were regarded as more accurate and authoritative … their codices are … very precise,” writes Teresa Ortega-Monasterio in Spanish Biblical Hebrew Manuscripts.

In Early Hebrew Printing in Sepharad ca. 1475–1497, Prof. Shimon Iakerson points out that “in 1482, Solomó ben Moisé Levi Alkabiz was established in Guadalajara and produced the first printed edition of the Talmud; in 1485, [Eliezer ben Abraham ibn] Alatansi was established in Híjar; and, in 1487, Samuel ben Mousa y Emanuel was working in Zamora (Torre Revello 17).”

While we know that Alkabiz printed a Rashi commentary on the Torah, information about Alatansi’s press is limited, and researchers only know of a fragment from the halachic compendium of Jacob ben Asher, including two copies of the latter prophets and two copies of the Torah. From what we know, ben Mousa, like Alkabiz, printed Rashi’s commentary on the Torah, as well.

It should be noted that during this same period, Hebrew printing was going on elsewhere, but it has been difficult to assign locations. Nevertheless, by comparing the fonts and printing paper to known texts, it is possible to suggest (but not confirm) those who may have worked on the books and the possible location of their workplace.

Intriguingly, for a limited time, there was cooperation between Jewish and non-Jewish printers. For example, it appears that Alfonso Fernandez de Cordoba “rented out” his frames to Jewish printers in Híjar in order that they might decorate the pages of their editions. Elsewhere, the Christian type caster Maestro Pedro of Guadalajar was mentioned in a Hebrew text.

Still, the Spanish monarchy felt threatened by the accessibility to Jewish learning afforded by the printing of Hebrew texts. Copies of the Talmud became a target of the Inquisition. From there, the hunt intensified, turning towards other Jewish texts. Two years before the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered Grand Inquisitor Fray Tomás de Torquemada to burn Hebrew books. Later, during an auto-da-fé (act of faith, which really meant the public burning of a heretic) extravaganza in Salamanca, this same church father oversaw the burning of more than 6,000 volumes, which were said to be “infected with Jewish errors.”

Even after the expulsion, this ruthlessness continued, as Inquisition officials confiscated Jewish books and searched for any so-called “Jewish contamination” in the conversos community. Arias Montano (1527-1598), the first director of El Escorial Library, described the situation this way: “Of Hebrew books, of which there was great wealth in Spain, there is now great poverty.” In fact, the Inquisition finished off Hebrew printing in Spain.

Miraculously, some Hebrew books printed in Spain survived this onslaught, often as single copies or as mere fragments, writes Iakerson. Some of these remnants exists in Spain, stored in places like the library of the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, in the library of the Royal Palace of Madrid and in the library of the Complutense University of Madrid. While the originals remain out of the public eye, some facsimiles are on view today. For example, in Cabinet 43 of the Escorial Library’s viewing room, there is a facsimile of a 15th-century Torah, which also contains the Masora, or Masoretic texts (various scholarly notes on the biblical text written into the margins).

In his 1969 book Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts, art scholar Bezalel Narkiss located illustrated medieval Spanish Jewish manuscripts in several European libraries and museums. These beautiful texts are now housed in places such as Sarajevo’s National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, National Library of Portugal in Lisbon, the Oriental Department of the Berlin State Library, British Museum in London, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, Oriental Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest and John Rylands University Library at the University of Manchester. Many of these collections are available for online viewing. For example, in 2012, the National Library of Spain gathered and mounted a large temporary exhibit of Spain’s most important medieval Hebrew texts. The exhibit is now viewable online and includes Hebrew Bibles, liturgical texts, texts dealing with reason and revelation, biblical exegesis, polemics and Spanish reports on the Inquisition trials of various conversos, suspected of Judaizing.

With the ability to digitize ancient documents and with the increasing international connection between libraries, perhaps additional surviving medieval Spanish Hebrew texts will be discovered. At the very least, we hope to learn more about those already discovered fragments of this once-flourishing Jewish culture.

Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic (take-a-peek-inside.com).

Florence: flower of Tuscany

The Great Synagogue of Florence, one of the most beautiful in Europe, was built in 1882 in the Moorish style. (photo by Shoshana Reich)

We got to Florence, that inimitable Italian city of art and beauty, in a roundabout way. First, we spent some time in Tel Aviv, at the elegant new boutique hotel, Gilgal, just a few minutes’ walk from the long seaside promenade. With its beautiful rooms, superb roof-terrace outdoor restaurant, with its view of the blue Mediterranean, the Hotel Gilgal was a memorable place to stay.

We had a very early morning flight to Italy, but we were lucky to discover another amazing hotel, sure to delight passengers flying out of Ben-Gurion Airport. Hotel Sadot, in Be’er Yaakov, offers free transport almost around the clock to the airport, and it not only offers a munificent buffet breakfast, but – surprise! – if you arrive in the afternoon, you are invited to an elaborate buffet supper, included with the cost of your stay.

As our plane approached the Florence airport, we had a clear glimpse of the building that dominates the city’s skyline: the Great Synagogue of Florence. The anchor of Jewish life in Florence, the magnificent blue-green-domed grand synagogue on Via Farini is the largest and most impressive synagogue in Italy and one of the most stunning in all of Europe, with a seating capacity of 1,200.

Built in 1882, the synagogue is decorated in the Moorish style. Besides its vast central dome, it has two side towers with smaller domes and wooden furnishings, and boasts Venetian mosaics on the walls that flank the aron kodesh. The other walls of the sanctuary feature arabesques, highlighted with gold and geometric motifs.

In front of the synagogue is a large formal garden and in the synagogue’s courtyard stands a memorial plaque with names of Jewish soldiers who fell fighting for Italy in the First World War. Alongside this plaque stands two memorial tablets with the names of local Jews who during the Second World War were sent to concentration camps and those who were killed in Italy by the Nazis.

During Sabbath services, we witnessed a beautiful bat mitzvah. After the Torah reading, the 12-year-old girl was escorted up the long, carpeted aisle to the bimah by her father and uncle. There, she recited the Shema and gave a short commentary on the Torah portion – a ceremony in a traditional shul that would not likely happen in a North American Orthodox synagogue.

Later, an elaborate kiddush was offered in the garden outside the sanctuary, a delicious meal catered by Ruth’s, the only kosher restaurant in Florence, located next door to the synagogue entrance at Via Farini 2A. On a weekday, we had occasion to dine at Ruth’s, managed by the gregarious Simcha Jellinek. For its variety of tasty dairy dishes and moderate prices, this restaurant is a find in Florence.

Today, the community of 850 Florentine Jews is led by Rabbi Yosef Levi. Services are held every Friday night and Shabbat morning and also on Mondays and Thursdays. The community has a kindergarten, a Talmud Torah school with 45 students, ranging in age from 6-15, a youth organization, a centre for Jewish culture and an old age home.

The Jewish museum, which occupies two upper storeys in the synagogue, displays Jewish artifacts from the 16th-18th centuries and documents the story of Florentine Jews throughout several hundred years, through the Holocaust and the postwar period.

Jews began residing in Florence in the early 1400s. By 1570, they were confined to a ghetto, near today’s main street, Piazza della Repubblica. They were prohibited from joining the guilds and could only deal in textiles and second-hand goods. However, by the mid-18th century, their condition gradually began to improve until 1848, when the ghetto was opened up and Jews could live anywhere.

For our stay in Florence, we chose the elegant riverside Hotel Berchielli ([email protected]), right near the historic centre of town. Its good-humored and helpful personnel, beautiful large rooms, and wide-ranging and delicious buffet breakfast made our visit memorable.

All the city’s famous sites, including the Duomo, the pedestrian streets with their nighttime street performers, the Ponte Vecchio, the high-end shopping area, the Uffizi Gallery and the synagogue, too, are all a short walk from the hotel. Hotel Berchielli is so conveniently located we did not have to take a taxi or any public transportation while in Florence.

Florence is also a good point for other excursions.

A 30-minute uphill bus ride from Florence is the beautiful suburb of Fiesole. Here, you are in a world apart, with grand views of Florence below at every turn. The pastoral Tuscan landscape is especially enjoyable at the welcoming Villa dei Bosconi (villadeibosconi.it), with its lovely lawns and refreshing swimming pool. We spent a relaxing three-day journey here, enjoying the walks to town, the countryside strolls and, of course, the marvelous buffet breakfast on the villa’s outdoor terrace.

Another superb side trip is to the Cinque Terre, a group of five villages, which cling to the craggy mountains that abut the Ligurian Sea. After a scenic two-hour train ride to La Spezia, we arrived at the imaginatively designed and welcoming Eco Albergo delle Spezie on Via Cavallotti. The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast, we walked to the quay and boarded a tour boat that stops at each of the five villages and gives you a glorious view from the sea of these picturesque places. For information, visit cinqueterre-travel.com.

To get the most out of your rail journeys, be sure to buy a Eurail Pass, a money-saving convenience available only while you’re still in the United States or Canada. A pass lets you choose destinations at will or change your itinerary, omitting long waits in line for tickets. For information and special offers, visit raileurope.com or call 1-888-382-7245. For some high-speed trains in Italy, reservations are mandatory.

Curt Leviant’s most recent book is the comic Zix Zexy Ztories. Erika Pfeifer Leviant’s articles on travel and art appear in various publications. Shoshana Reich, photographer, is a student at the Parsons School for Design.

Charedi community confronts mental illness

An artists’s rendering of the new facility now under construction in Bnei Brak. (photo from Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Centre) 

Chavi (not her real name) awkwardly positions herself on the chair in the group therapy room. The doctors gave her parents no choice, hospitalize her or she may develop organ failure as a result of her extreme anorexia. Chavi is 16 and has grown up in the Charedi enclave of Bnei Brak, where there was little public knowledge or discussion about this debilitating disorder.

The group therapy room is in the adolescent unit where she has been hospitalized, a couple of miles away from her community and yet a world away from the life she knows. Girls talk openly about intimate experiences. They discuss the influence of media on their eating disorders and they talk about their secular lifestyles. Chavi doesn’t understand; she understands the words, but not their connotations. She is told that this place will help her get better but she feels lonelier than ever, like an outcast, discarded from her community and implanted into an alien world.

Chavi is one of the lucky ones; her parents noticed the signs of her illness and took her to seek help. One in four people will experience mental illness in their lifetime and the Charedi community is no different. And times are changing: Israel’s Charedi community is breaking down barriers to tackle the stigma of mental illness.

“The last few years have seen the community join together to fight mental illness,” explained Nechami Samuel, a psychotherapist at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Centre (MHMC) in Bnei Brak. What was once a taboo subject is now being discussed and debated by rabbis, and the message is hitting home. “People in our community don’t turn to medical professionals in these situations, they turn to their rabbi for help with shalom bayit [domestic harmony],” said Samuel. “These rabbis are now referring families to us, seeking professional guidance and, together with MHMC, leading a revolution in reducing the stigma of mental illness.” This changing atmosphere could not happen soon enough – within the first days of the recent Operation Protective Edge, air-raid sirens began to sound in Bnei Brak.

“We have seen an influx in cases because of the war. For some, anxiety disorders get worse, and people who have had no prior anxiety issues may develop disorders because of the situation,” explained Dr. Michael Bunzel, chief psychiatrist at MHMC. “We have been charged by the Ministry of Health as an acute-stress treatment centre for Bnei Brak to deal specifically with trauma in the case of a national disaster. The idea is to create separate sites for trauma so that people don’t have to go to the emergency room. Mayanei Hayeshua serves as one of these sites.”

“Take, for example, postnatal depression: 10 years ago, it [was thought not to] exist in our community. We’re talking about a communal prevalence of 13 percent and yet it was brushed under the carpet.” 

In addition to the upsurge in cases of post-traumatic stress and anxiety, MHMC is continuing to tackle the basic mental health needs of the community. “Take, for example, postnatal depression: 10 years ago, it [was thought not to] exist in our community,” said Shimon Goloveizitz, head of administration for MHMC’s psychiatric services. “We’re talking about a communal prevalence of 13 percent and yet it was brushed under the carpet.” Today, in addition to the organizations that have been founded to provide support, a substantial public awareness campaign has been instigated. “Recently, we hosted a rabbi-therapist to give a lecture to men to help them spot the signs of postnatal depression in their wives and support them effectively, and the turnout was overwhelming.”

Prior to his position at MHMC, Goloveizitz managed a health centre in central Israel. “One day, they decided to do an evening for Charedim because they never came to any of their health-promotion events,” he recalled. “They chose a night during Chanukah, brought in glatt-kosher food and entertained the Charedi visitors with a female singer and scantily clad dancer. They just simply didn’t understand.” There is a need to provide more information about social norms so that there is less misunderstanding between secular and religious Israelis.

MHMC is currently home to both child and adult outpatient and day-care psychiatric services but it has struggled to serve the high demands of this typically under-served population. The therapists take into account religious sensitivities and the particular challenges of conforming to religious norms. “When I am conducting family therapy and the father doesn’t look at me, rather than racing to conclusions of autism or communication disorders, I think shmirat ha’ayin [guarding the gaze],” said Samuel. “Even in standard diagnostic tests a child can be diagnosed with low intelligence because he doesn’t know culturally determined answers, or a yeshivah student diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder because his religious lifestyle fits the criterion for this disease.”

“We don’t close our doors to anyone. We have patients from all religious backgrounds, but it is an environment of religious respect, which is unique to our institution.”

MHMC is now halfway through the construction of a state-of-the-art psychiatric facility that will become the first in Israel solely dedicated to serving the religious population; it promises to increase the available treatment options. “We don’t close our doors to anyone,” clarified Goloveizitz. “We have patients from all religious backgrounds, but it is an environment of religious respect, which is unique to our institution.”

The new facility will house inpatient services in addition to its current outpatient services and is hoping to become a centre for excellence in Israeli mental health care. “There is no doubt that there is a need for an inpatient facility when a person is endangering himself or others, but our goal is not to be a sanatorium. We want to give people the tools to reintegrate into society as speedily as possible and for that we need to build a welcoming environment in which religious people, like Chavi, will feel comfortable living,” said Samuel.

Israel’s mental health system is currently undergoing reforms. The country’s psychologists currently predominantly offer psychodynamic therapy, which is a long-term, in-depth therapeutic approach primarily focusing on unconscious internal conflicts. Under the new system, there is a move toward evidence-based practice, which advocates the use of treatments that have a strong empirical support. While this does not exclude psychodynamic therapies, it does recommend more targeted treatment approaches based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for specific disorders.

“Our main purpose is to get our patients back out to the community and we use whatever treatments have been shown to be most effective for that purpose,” said Samuel. “Especially with these treatments, which have strict protocols, first and foremost, the research outlines the importance of cultural applicability and individual tailoring of treatment goals and plans.”

The future looks hopeful for the mental health of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community. With 3,350 patients accessing Mayanei Hayeshua’s psychiatric services in 2013 alone, the improved services are needed. “The first stage of the revolution on stigma has been a success,” said Samuel. “Now we have to stand up to the challenge of the increased demand for our services.”

Anna Harwood is a writer and clinical psychology student at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She made aliyah from England at the end of 2010 and has been living in Jerusalem ever since.

This year marks the seventh

According to Jewish law, every seven years, agricultural fields are to lie fallow during the Shmita, or Sabbatical. (photo from commons.wikimedia.org)

This Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the year 5755, a year that has a special significance, as a Shmita, or Sabbatical year, a year of rest for the soil.

Shmita literally means renunciation or release. We renounce the right to work the land, and let it lie fallow in the seventh year. In Leviticus 25:4, it says, “The seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the Lord, thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” It is also a year in which we renounce our right to collect debts. “At the end of every seven years, thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he lent unto his neighbor.” (Deuteronomy 15:1-2)

Although the laws of the sabbatical remittance of debts apply to Jews everywhere, the obligation to let the land lie fallow is limited to the boundaries of Israel, as these laws begin only “… when ye come into the Land which I shall give you.…” (Leviticus 25:2) After wandering the desert for 40 years, Moses gathered the Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and gave them a detailed law about the soil. As soon as they entered Eretz Israel, they were to become people of the land, with their lives bound up in agriculture.

For centuries, as the Jews in the Diaspora became largely non-agricultural, the law of Shmita became a theoretical problem to be discussed by talmudic scholars. However, with the establishment of the state of Israel, Shmita again became a practical problem for the pioneers and early settlers.

Until the system of crop rotation was devised at the beginning of the 20th century, both Jews and non-Jews saw the logic of letting the land periodically rest. For Jews, these agricultural cycles were detailed in the Torah. For centuries, as the Jews in the Diaspora became largely non-agricultural, the law of Shmita became a theoretical problem to be discussed by talmudic scholars. However, with the establishment of the state of Israel, Shmita again became a practical problem for the pioneers and early settlers.

There are many reasons for the Shmita year. It teaches human beings that the earth does not belong to them, but to G-d. It also teaches people to have confidence in

G-d; even though we are asked to let the land rest, the Lord will invoke a blessing for us. Letting the land lie fallow is useful for another reason, too: every seven years, freed from the preoccupation of working the land, we are freed to study Torah full time.

Apparently, even Julius Caesar exempted the Jews from taxation in the Shmita year, since they did not have any livelihood from their fields. After the Bar Kochba revolt, however, the Jews were again compelled to pay taxes, causing grave hardship, which in turn convinced the rabbis to relax many prohibitions.

During the Second Temple period, the Jews rigidly adhered to Shmita in Eretz Israel. During the Hasmonean War, the fall of Bet Zur was attributed to a famine in the city since it was a Sabbatical year. Apparently, even Julius Caesar exempted the Jews from taxation in the Shmita year, since they did not have any livelihood from their fields. After the Bar Kochba revolt, however, the Jews were again compelled to pay taxes, causing grave hardship, which in turn convinced the rabbis to relax many prohibitions.

In the days of early modem statehood, Shmita was problematic in Israel, when its unbearably heavy economic load became too much for the young state to bear. Learned rabbis, like the late Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, agreed to the use of a heter (special dispensation) to sell the land to non-Jews during the Sabbatical year, to permit the land to be worked.

In recent years, there have also been developed other methods of using a heter for Shmita, such as early sowing of vegetables before the New Year (relying on the view of Rabbi Shimon of Sens, for example) and the growing of crops by hydroponics or soil-less systems. The Israeli botanist Meir Schwartz founded the first fully automatic hydroponic farm at the Agudat Israel Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim, but there are now other hydroponic farms at Ein Gedi and Eilat, which use water culture and gravel in agricultural production.

How does the Shmita year affect Orthodox Israeli consumers? Throughout the year, in local newspapers, there are regularly published lists of shops from whom it is permissible to buy fruit and vegetables in the Sabbatical year; there are also chains of shops that market Arab Israeli-farmed or imported produce. Many Orthodox Jews buy their fruit and vegetables in the Arab market in East Jerusalem, for example, or travel to Arab cities to shop.

It is not easy in Israel to observe the Shmita year, however. Although different dispensations have been made in recent years to make it less difficult, they are considered “emergency measures,” as implied by Kook in the introduction to his work on the Shmita, Shabbat Haaretz, in which he wrote: “We today are charged with preserving the memory of the commandment until the time is ripe for it to be carried out with all its minutiae.”

Dvora Waysman is the author of 13 books, which are available through Amazon, or from the author at [email protected]. Her website is dvorawaysman.com.

Time for a personal Recharge!

Henry David Thoreau once offered this now-famous quote; “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

I’m pretty sure we were all sold that line by one of our high school teachers on graduation day as they proudly sent us off into life’s vast wilderness.

Those teachers would no doubt be proud to know that we have ALL done exactly that! We’re all living the dream, right? Going confidently? As we imagined? Right?

I mean, it’s not as if anything has ever stopped us! Life, societal norms, expectations, responsibility, height restrictions, the law….these things don’t get in the way of going in the direction of our dreams! Nahhhhh.

I’ll spare you from hashtagging the word ‘sarcasm’ because that would be #painfullyobvious. But somehow I don’t imagine many of us have reached adulthood without feeling, in some way, like there is a dream, goal or aspiration we have left behind for one reason or another. Something that maybe just feels missing.

So what is stopping you?

Cue the 2014 Recharge Conference, Oct 26 at the JCC of Greater Vancouver!

Recharge is a one-day (full day) event that offers participants a unique opportunity to open their minds, consider the possibilities and walk away with tools to help take whatever plunge toward positive change they aspire to take. Whether it be mind, body, career, relationship or financial issues one wishes to tackle, Recharge offers a unique opportunity for that under-appreciated first step.

The day will flow with experienced speakers, special presentations, educational wisdom, and hands-on opportunities to consider how to open the right doors to go whichever direction a person might choose.

Experts on a wide range of life-changing topics will be on hand to educate and inspire while participants will have the chance to wander the conference checking out information booths feeding opportunity and ideas.

Founded by Justine Levenberg and Mike Dirks, Recharge was born last year out of a passion to help adults maximize their potential and live their ultimate life, Levenberg explained.

“The conference allows delegates to take a step back from the daily routine and devote a day to themselves to get ‘recharged,'” she said. “The goal of the conference is for delegates to leave with new ideas that have sparked an energized attitude towards their life and the empowered perspective to maximize their potential.”

What makes Recharge different than other self-help sessions? Levenberg said it’s about action, not just inspiration.

“The Recharge conference is different as delegates will leave the with an action plan to implement changes into their daily lives as soon as they walk through the door. Delegates will also have an opportunity to connect with the speakers as all presenters are local leaders in their fields.”

Highlighting a long list of speakers and topics, Recharge will conclude with a final presentation by well-known Lifestyle Designer Matt Corker.

Corker, who authored the book “Getting Over the Rainbow: my journey from self-doubt to self-love,” is also a yoga instructor, ideas retreat facilitator, relationship adviser, blogger and, of course, public speaker.

While that all  might sound well and good, the best reason to check out the Recharge conference is to see me speak and heckle me from the crowd.

Tickets and more information on Recharge can be found here.

On that note, I will leave you with this final quote from John Green:

“One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.”

Mind. Blown.

 

From yeshivah to TV

Joshua Malina will help launch the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver’s annual campaign on Sept. 21. (photo from Joshua Malina)

The title of his talk is How to Make it in Hollywood and Remain a Mensch. From the one minute and 20 second video he made to help the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver promote the Sept. 21 launch of this year’s annual campaign, you can tell he knows that of which he speaks. Joshua Malina exudes menschlichkeit.

But that doesn’t mean the actor’s a pushover. Follow him on Twitter and you’ll see that he knows how to push back. He also has a wicked sense of humor, and not just in writing apparently – he has a reputation for being a prankster on set. He’s currently co-starring in the hit show Scandal, which may sound far removed from his yeshivah roots, but his character, David Rosen, has the clearest moral compass of the bunch. Not that it matters, of course, as actors, well, act, and Malina told the Jewish Independent that he “was intent on becoming an actor from about age 8 onwards. Prior to that, baseball player, Good Humor man and rabbi were all options I considered.”

As to whether his athletic or sales skills would have been up to the challenge is unclear, but anyone who has read about Malina – or watched that minute-plus video – knows that he could have easily been a rabbi.

“My parents’ decision to send me to yeshivah from first through eighth grades was a major factor in establishing my Jewish identity,” he told the Independent. “At Westchester Day School (in Mamaroneck, N.Y.), I acquired many of the skills that are helpful in living a substantive Jewish life. I studied Torah, learned about the holiday cycle, was taught to pray and to leyn, and so on. But, probably more crucially, I was taught there to consider the ethical decisions of everyday life. We were taught about tikkun olam, the concept that it’s every person’s responsibility to help repair this imperfect world.

“I’m a middle child, with a sister who’s two and a half years older than I, and a sister eight years younger,” he continued. “My family has always been extremely close, and my parents helped us all forge strong Jewish identities by raising us in a home that valued and celebrated Jewish tradition.

“Seeing how others live and observe Judaism reminds me of the resiliency and creativity of our people. It’s one of the reasons I get such pleasure from visiting different communities when I go out to speak.”

“So, I grew up in a Conservative household, attended an Orthodox shul, and spent eight years at an Orthodox day school. I ended up marrying a convert, and now my family attends a Reconstructionist synagogue, so you could say that I’m the ultimate Jewish mutt. Rather than a liability, though, I’d say that my exposure to a broad variety of Jewish experience has enhanced my own faith. Seeing how others live and observe Judaism reminds me of the resiliency and creativity of our people. It’s one of the reasons I get such pleasure from visiting different communities when I go out to speak.”

Malina now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two children. In addition to Scandal, his ABC biography notes that, “during his hiatus, he filmed a role in writer/director Warren Beatty’s latest Howard Hughes feature.”

Malina has had many career successes, in such television shows as The West Wing and the acclaimed but short-lived Sports Night. He has appeared in numerous other popular TV programs, as well as first-rate films, and was executive producer on Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, which “broke ratings records for the network.” But there also have been some downs since he made his professional debut in Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men on Broadway.

“Ah yes, ‘professional uncertainty,’ I know it well,” he said. “I consider myself luckier than most who pursue a career in acting, but it has certainly been a rollercoaster. Work can be very hard to come by, and a job can disappear as quickly as it materialized. The emotional aspect I’m pretty good with. I don’t take rejection personally, and I understand that I may book one job for every 50 I’m considered for. Also, my self-image is not wrapped up in my success as an actor. I am much more concerned about being a good father and husband than I am in being well-known, or anything like that. That said, I do have responsibilities. I need to put food on the table and a roof over my kids’ heads. It is not always easy in this profession.”

And Malina isn’t just concerned with putting a roof over his own family’s heads.

“I try to support a variety of organizations, but I am particularly fond of groups that take their inspiration from Judaism, and do good on behalf of everybody, regardless of religious affiliation,” he said in response to a question about his charitable endeavors. “Jews are a wonderfully philanthropic community, and I like for the world to see that. Mazon – A Jewish Response to Hunger, is a nonprofit that addresses hunger issues in Israel and the U.S. They do terrific work, as does Bet Tzedek, which is a pro bono law firm in Los Angeles that takes its motivation from the Torah verse that states ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue.’

“Of course, I am also supportive of organizations that help Jews specifically, and that insure that we are a community that takes care of its own.”

One of the causes Malina supports is the Creative Community for Peace.

“We may not all share the same politics or the same opinion on the best path to peace in the Middle East,” reads the About Us explanation on the group’s website. “But we do agree that singling out Israel, the only democracy in the region, as a target of cultural boycotts while ignoring the now-recognized human rights issues of her neighbors will not further peace.

“We understand the power that our music, our films, our television shows, and all arts have. They have the power to build bridges. Foster better understanding. Encourage dialogue. And hopefully lead toward greater mutual acceptance.”

Among Creative Community for Peace’s initiatives is an anti-boycott petition, headed “Don’t Let Israel’s Detractors Politicize Art,” and the statement “Commitment to Peace and Justice.”

“The idiocy of accusing Israel – which attempts to minimize civilian casualties – of attempted genocide, while ignoring the words of Hamas’ charter, which call for the extermination of every Jew, is maddening.”

“It was a very easy decision for me to sign that statement,” he told the Independent. “It expressed grief for the loss of life among Israelis and Palestinians and, without explicitly referencing the Almodovar-Bardem-Cruz letter, it indirectly responded to its foolishness. The idiocy of accusing Israel – which attempts to minimize civilian casualties – of attempted genocide, while ignoring the words of Hamas’ charter, which call for the extermination of every Jew, is maddening. One can only come to the conclusion that those engaging in this type of false accusation are either maliciously dishonest or out of touch with reality.

“And please understand, I do not vilify everyone who is critical of Israel. I have criticisms of my own. But the vicious and intellectually dishonest nature of the double standard applied by many to the Gaza conflict requires a response. Hence, my signature on the letter.

“I have heard from many as a result of my signing the statement. The vast majority has been quite positive, some of it’s been very negative. But that’s all right. I expected it, and I can take it. I’m an actor; I have thick skin.”

Tickets for the campaign launch Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m., at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts are $40 ($18 students), with group discounts available (Anna Vander Munnik, 604-257-5109 or [email protected]). For more information and to buy tickets, visit jewishvancouver.com.

BGU student-built car races

In Italy, at Ben-Gurion Racing’s pit, from left to right, BGR2014 team leader Dudy Daud, project manager Tamir Plachinsky, main sponsor of the event Giampaolo Dallara, former EU president and former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi and the rest of the BGR team. (photo from BGR)

Israel is not known for manufacturing cars, let alone race cars, but that hasn’t stopped students from Ben-Gurion University from doing just that.

At their first race this year, in Austria Aug. 17-20, the car had an oil leak in the middle of the endurance race. “The car was stopped and we were very disappointed,” said mechanical engineer Tamir Plachinsky.

At the second race, however, in Italy Aug. 29-Sept. 1, the team fared better. They finished 21st overall out of 44 teams, completing all of the events, including acceleration, skid pad, autocross and hard endurance (which was incomplete in Austria).

“The team is extremely happy to have finished the event,” said Plachinsky. “We showed again the strength of our students – that, even in a year like we had [in Israel], we managed to build the most advanced car we’ve ever built and to race it in two races.”

Plachinsky began the initiative to build the first-ever Israeli Formula SAE project in 2010. After the successful participation of the first Ben-Gurion Racing (BGR) team in 2011 in the Italian race, Plachinsky was granted a six-month apprentice opportunity at the Italian racecar manufacturer Dallara. Upon his return, he started managing the race-car project at the university.

photo - The team celebrates after the race in Italy. (photo from BGR)
The team celebrates after the race in Italy. (photo from BGR)

This year’s car is the fourth that students have designed and manufactured in the team. The aim is to redesign a new car each year for the Italian event, with a new group of students to replace the graduate students who have completed their studies.

“Each year starts with a new team and new goals, and you never know what will happen until the race,” said Plachinsky. “Think of it like a manufacturing company that forms at the beginning of the year with a new CEO … and everything [is] needed. And, at the end of the year, all the personnel retire from the company and you hire completely new staff.”

This year, Plachinsky said, “We started with new goals for the team and we knew we wouldn’t have enough time and resources to complete the car, but we still worked as hard as possible to keep to the time table and find support.”

The creation of the team occurs around September. The new team meets with the old team and learns about the current car. “We go over the good systems and the bad ones, where we need to improve and develop, and what should be left as is,” explained Plachinsky.

For 2014, the team consisted of 31 mechanical engineering students together with five students from the university’s department of management and design students from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem.

“We’re confident and believe in our ability to face any difficulty we’ll encounter,” said Plachinsky.

This year’s design concept was formed in September 2013. “They put into it their previous three years’ experience and a lot of courage to make it a better car from the 2013 model – one that put a new standard for race cars produced in Israel,” said Plachinsky.

This car, dubbed the “BGR14004,” had two unique features. The main frame is built from carbon fibre, instead of welded steel tubes, and the students designed their own gearbox.

“The carbon frame, also called ‘monocoque’ (Latin for ‘single shell’) is the first of its kind ever produced in Israel and allows for [a] lighter and stiffer chassis,” said Plachinsky. This is a feature the university students have been developing over the past two years.

“Together with the frame, we managed to design and manufacture the new gearbox,” he added. “This will enable the car to access a much better power supply, giving the driver help in reducing lap times.”

The main assembly was done in the university’s new compound, but the different parts were manufactured at various factories supporting the team. The carbon fibre frame was made at Composite Materials Ltd. in Modi’in, the gears were made at Ashot Ashkelon Industries Ltd. in Ashkelon, and the 3D-printed intake manifold was made at Aran Research & Development Ltd. in Caesaria. “But, as much as possible, we’re trying to keep the manufacturing of the parts in the Be’er Sheva area and the south of Israel,” said Plachinsky.

In competition

photo - Ben-Gurion Racing’s Formula SAE student race car at the autocross run in Austria
Ben-Gurion Racing’s Formula SAE student race car at the autocross run in Austria. (photo from BGR)

Registration for the races in Italy and Austria was in January 2014. “Once we knew we had spots at those events, all that was left to do was to build the car,” said Plachinsky. “This [was] no easy task, especially this year, because of the complicated manufacturing of the new frame and also – and maybe mainly – due to the fact that almost half the team got recruited to serve in the army. Even with these difficulties, we managed to complete the car just in time for the Austrian event, after a month of working 25 hours a day.”

Overall, Plachinsky said everyone is very happy with how the car performs. “It shows all the features we designed into it and is faster than last year’s car,” he said. “The students’ devotion to complete the car and represent the team, the university and the country in the best way possible has just been unbelievable.

“Arriving at the event with the car you’ve designed and built is an amazing feeling,” he continued. “Adding to that is the fact that the Austrian event is held at the famous Red-Bull Ring and that the Italian event, our traditional race, is always an amazing experience.”

The financial side

Getting the funding necessary for such a project is daunting – and most participating teams get 10 times the funding that BGR does, according to Plachinsky.

“We received support from the university and some companies and factories (from 2013 and continuing into 2014) but, as the design level goes up, so does the need for support,” he said. “Also, as we’re now on tour in Europe for three weeks; it’s not cheap or easy to organize and finance.”

Plachinsky and the team are approaching companies in Israel that they feel will want to collaborate with them “on a joint development basis or for marketing interest.” He said, “We want to show them how amazing this project is and that they can earn something by supporting us, having there be positive publicity, connections to the university, future employees, and so on.”

Plachinsky said of donors, “None of what we do would happen if it wasn’t for the good hearts of those people. We’ll be forever grateful.”

Looking ahead, the team’s goal is, as always, to advance into new areas and technologies. For the coming year, the plan is to participate in the Austrian and Italian events once again. This time, with a new car that will be the first electric race car made in Israel.

Although the team has not yet begun building it, the general concept is in place. “Some team members from next year’s team are here with us [in Italy], learning about the competition, the race and the car as much as possible before the current team will clear the stage for them,” said Plachinsky.

BGR is continually seeking assistance in helping them “represent Israel in the most amazing way and to educate the future engineers and automotive industry of Israel,” said Plachinsky. “And, for this, we greatly need to find further financial support.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

VIFF screens humanity’s best/worst

Ilya Kabakov is the subject of Amei Wallach’s lya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here. (photo from VIFF)

This year’s Vancouver International Film Festival (Sept. 25-Oct. 10) will take viewers on a rollercoaster ride, if the films reviewed by the Independent this week are any indication. We went from soaring heights of imagination and freedom with Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here to the music-filled yet poverty-ridden streets of Jakarta in Jalanan to the horrifyingly shallow depths where evil is normal in The Decent One.

“What interests me is where is the border between reality and the dream,” says artist Ilya Kabakov in Enter Here. With this film that the Jewish Independent has sponsored at VIFF, Amei Wallach follows Ilya and his wife and partner Emilia Kabakov in the months leading to a massive retrospective in Moscow in 2008. She captures the couple’s personalities: Ilya, with his mind anywhere but on earth, still traumatized by his life – and that of his mother, who led a very difficult existence – in the Soviet Union, which he escaped in 1987, and Emilia, the organizer, fearless. The exhibit marked his first return to Russia, and there is trepidation about how it will be received, and how he will handle his memories.

Kabakov’s paintings and installations are unbelievable. They inspire contemplation and awe at their scope and creativity. Most of the ones highlighted in the documentary critique what Russia would have been – and seemingly has become again – to live in: the surveillance, distrust, harshness, bureaucracy. His works are influenced by various events and people, including his mother who, at his behest, wrote a diary when she was in her 80s.

In his New York studio, Kabakov reflects on three types of losers: mankind in principle, his feelings about himself despite his self-acknowledged success, and his reaction to Russia. He describes Russia as “permanent rainy,” and speaks of life there as “two-faced,” the public front and the personal. As a non-state-sponsored artist, he created much work, but only exhibited twice in his home country. For Kabakov, for whom the museum is akin to the church, “The last haven of our history and our spirit,” this alone would have been reason to flee. For the many around the world who have glimpsed his great mind through his work, we’re very lucky he did.

***

photo - Of the 12 million people living in Indonesia’s capital city, some 7,000 earn their living as buskers, according to the film, and Jalanan follows the lives of three of them – Boni, Ho and Tuti – over a five-year period.
Of the 12 million people living in Indonesia’s capital city, some 7,000 earn their living as buskers, according to the film, and Jalanan follows the lives of three of them – Boni, Ho and Tuti – over a five-year period. (photo from VIFF)

Director Daniel Ziv obviously fell in love with the street musicians he profiles in Jalanan. Their aspirations, energy, passion, kindness, and resilience – he communicates all of it, such that you almost don’t notice it’s a documentary about poverty, development, corruption, and the treatment of women, the place of art in society, and other such weighty subject matter.

Of the 12 million people living in Indonesia’s capital city, some 7,000 earn their living as buskers, according to the film, and Jalanan follows the lives of three of them – Boni, Ho and Tuti – over a five-year period. In the face of hardship, the troubadours remain optimistic and driven to create and share their music. Nothing gets them down: Boni and his family are evicted from their 10-year “home” under a bridge, Ho gets jailed for just being on the streets and Tuti is unable to live with any of her three children.

As writes Ziv in a director’s statement, “This isn’t the type of documentary that feeds off tragedy … this is not about thousands of lives being threatened … this isn’t even about the poorest of the poor. Rather, Jalanan traces the lives of a forgotten, marginalized community that slips through society’s cracks. The dilemmas and conflicts here represent a huge segment of urban population in the developing world…. This film is meant to give them a voice, to raise awareness for their conditions and struggle.”

Ziv takes the awareness beyond the film, with a campaign to raise money to buy homes for Boni, Ho and Tuti: fundrazr.com/campaigns/dgEM6.

***

photo - Vanessa Lapa’s The Decent One is based on personal letters, documents and photographs that were found in the Himmlers’ home by U.S. soldiers in 1945
Vanessa Lapa’s The Decent One is based on personal letters, documents and photographs that were found in the Himmlers’ home by U.S. soldiers in 1945. (photo from VIFF)

And then, there is a person like Heinrich Himmler, who could write home to his family with love and affection while on a trip visiting concentration camps. Vanessa Lapa’s The Decent One is based on personal letters, documents and photographs that were found in the Himmlers’ home by U.S. soldiers in 1945, but which weren’t handed over to the military authorities. They became the property of Lapa’s father somehow, and she has used them to make this documentary.

The Decent One is very stylized. Voice actors read the letters, diary entries and documents from Himmler, his wife, daughter, mistress and others, archival footage has sound effects and/or music added, and benign-sounding excerpts from the writings are juxtaposed against brutal images. Viewers follow Himmler from a young age to his rise in the Nazi party and through much of the war. The cumulative effect is powerful. The most upsetting and scary conclusion is that understanding evil is nigh impossible.

Liqueurs add zest and spice

Sukkah Hill Spirits’ Howard and Marni Witkin. (photo from sukkahhill.com)

There are any number of traditional Jewish holiday foods, but not nearly as many holiday-related beverages. Hands down, wine dominates. But, company has arrived. Two new – and already medal-winning – artisanal liqueurs will be a welcome addition to your table.

Los Angeles-based Sukkah Hill Spirits’ Etrog Liqueur and its Besamim Liqueur both won gold in the 2013 SIP awards: out of some 300 entries, Etrog was deemed the best fruit-based liqueur and Besamim the best herbal/botanical. Both liqueurs are kosher (including for Passover), gluten-free and made with no additives or stabilizers. Not only are they a pleasure to drink, they are aromatic as well – lemon and cloves, respectively. Take a sip of either, and a host of recipe possibilities come to mind.

When the Independent heard about Sukkah Hill liqueurs, the first question was whether we can get it in Canada.

“We will be in stores in Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest in the next few months, and have a list of stores that ship listed on our website,” responded Howard Witkin. “We are adding a number of new online retailers and will update the site as we put it together.”

Witkin’s wife and business partner Marni is the creative force behind these products. He refers to her as the “Taste Mistress” – “No barrel goes to bottling unless she has tasted it and approved it,” he said.

“Marni’s been making liqueur for almost 10 years,” he explained. “She started out making it for our own home, and to share with friends. Soon, she was making dozens of bottles at the request of friends all around the community. When we were approached by a local storeowner who suggested he could sell whatever we could make, we realized that we had a product that people really enjoyed, and which could become a new business.”

The inspiration to use etrogim came from the fate many of the fruit face after Sukkot – the compost.

“Marni wanted to do more with it than allow it languish after the holiday,” said Witkin. So important during the festivities, “it seemed like a waste to let its potential just fade away. So, we started bottling it.

“Besamim is based on a twist of a traditional spice mixture from Havdalah,” he continued. “Besamim at Havdalah gives an extra lift to your soul as Shabbat wanes. We wanted to tie into those wonderful family times and warm moments. Smell has such ties into memories and experiences. I feel the warmth and closeness of Havdalah and Shabbat every time I taste our Besamim liqueur.”

Transforming something done for pleasure into something commercial can sometimes diminish its enjoyment

“Because we make everything by hand, and use the same pure and simple ingredients and processes we started with, it still feels like a fun project,” said Witkin. “Just the barrels are a lot bigger, and there are thousands of bottles to label. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the creative process of putting together labels and art, and sharing what we are making with so many more people.”

***

Sukkah Hill Spirits’ website offers several drink ideas. In response to a request for food suggestions, Howard Witkin offered the following recipes, noting also that biscotti dipped in a glass of Besamim is delicious, as is either liqueur over ice cream or sorbet.

GRILLED TROUT WITH ETROG

Combine Etrog Liqueur, brown sugar, black pepper and tarragon vinegar. Marinate red trout fillet – skin on – for up to four hours.

Spray/brush the grill with olive oil. Cover the skin side of the fillets with a thick coating of olive oil and lay on the oiled grill. Leave in place until the top of the fish starts to become opaque. Shake a light rub of brown sugar and pepper over the trout, lightly mist with olive oil.

You should now be able to lift the fillet with a spatula from the skin and flip it over back onto the skin, which has remained on the grill. (The skin protects the trout from burning.) Drizzle the remaining marinade over the fish, sprinkle with brown sugar rub. Cook until flaky (a few extra minutes).

Variation: Drizzle soy sauce on the trout as it grills.

BESAMIM YAMS

4 large carrots
3 medium yams
3 tbsp Besamim Liqueur
Cinnamon to taste (3-6 tsp)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange carrots and yams cut to size in a baking pan. Spoon liqueur over the carrots and yams and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

ETROG HONEY CAKE

Dry ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Liquid ingredients:
1 cup clear honey
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup strongly brewed black tea, cooled to room temp.
3 large eggs
1/3 cup Etrog Liqueur
1 cup plus 2 tbsp applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

For finishing:
honey and Etrog Liqueur (approx. 1/2 cup each)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three eight-by-four-inch loaf pans.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. In small bowl, combine honey with oil, then add to dry ingredients and whisk in remaining liquid ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 45-55 minutes until cake springs back when lightly pressed and cake tester tests clean.

Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then poke all over with a skewer and very slowly spoon the honey/Etrog Liqueur mix over the cakes, allowing the liquid to thoroughly saturate them. When cool, remove from the pans. Wrapping and storing the cakes for a day improves the flavor.

When ready to serve, top with confectioners’ sugar if desired.

For more about Sukkah Hill Spirits, visit sukkahhill.com.